Cheeseburger in Paradise
In the role of everyman Jason Brody, I and my group of friends managed to get kidnapped by a bunch of island-dwelling psychos that like to hunt the deadliest game: everyman Jason Brody. It's not made entirely clear during these early areas what, if anything, is motivating these evil doers, but I'm sure that's something that'll get fleshed out later in Far Cry 3 after I've shot like, several hundred of them.
Unlike the original Far Cry where you play as ex-special forces soldier Jack Carver, or Far Cry 2 where you get to pick which of several badass mercenaries you want to be, Brody is more of a popped-collar dweeb. A coward, in fact. He says, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" a lot, as if channeling a panicking Shia Labeouf. Perhaps that's why the bad guys let him go -- he's kind of hard to take seriously as a threat. Well, I'm going to make that their first mistake... just after I finish harvesting these colorful plants.
Malama Ka Aina
From the little I've seen, I really dig this crafting mechanic -- assuming it'll get more involved later on.
After escaping from the enemy camp, I was saved by a friendly local native named Dennis who is vying for Stand Up Guy of the Year. In the course of a few minutes he agrees to teach Brody about the inner workings of the island, where to buy guns, how to hunt, and has even agreed to help him find his friends. Alright, cool. One of the first things Dennis teaches is the ability to craft medicinal items from various wild plants (they appear on the map as colored leaves). And if you know the right ingredients, learned by talking to NPCs such as Dennis and Dr. Alex Earnhardt (creepy guy from previous trailers), you'll be able to make various health syringes or other types of healing ointments. You know, the kind that heal multiple gunshot wounds.
From the little I've seen, I really dig this crafting mechanic -- assuming it'll get more involved later on. For example, being able to craft unique buffs like enhanced aim or a form of bullet time could add a neat layer to the combat, not to mention encouraging players to step off the beaten path.
Skinning wildlife is another skill that's taught early on, and it can help you create pouches to carry more ammo and herbs. In terms of exploration, Far Cry 3 takes a page out of Assassin's Creed's book in that there are various radio towers scattered across the island. Climbing to the top of these towers will reveal more areas of the surrounding map, display the location of side quests, as well as the location of enemy outposts.
Island Hopping
Taking over every single outpost isn't mandatory, but you would be wise to wrest control of them from enemy hands. Not only will it reduce the number of bad guys on patrol in that particular region, but it will also serve as a remote base of operations that doubles as a fast-travel location. Plus, the ones I infiltrated were a hell of a lot of fun.
In one such battle I positioned myself atop a rock outcropping that overlooked the outpost. I started to pick off these enemy soldiers with my AK-47, but one spoilsport managed to activate a nearby alarm that called in some reinforcements. It wasn't long until a group of soldiers rolled up in their well-armed jeeps sporting heavy mounted machine guns, and they opened fire on my hillside location. This is when I decided to retreat from the rocks and find an alternate approach into the outpost. Sure enough, I was able to sneak in through some underbrush and take control of one of the mounted turrets myself, which very quickly cut all of the enemy troops down to size. Not bad for a popped-collar dweeb.
Taking over these outposts and killing enemy troops also nets some experience points that can be applied to additional combat skills. One of the first I got is known as Takedown, and it allows you to quickly (and silently) thrust a knife into the neck of an enemy for a stealth kill. You wouldn't think you'd have to learn how to stick a pointy thing into a man, but Ubisoft never claimed Brody was the sharpest knife in the bad guy's neck.
Story? What Story? Where?
I was having too much fun charting my own path through the jungle, hunting boar, stealing cars, taking over outposts. Saving some yuppies was the least of my concerns.
As my time with Far Cry 3 drew to a close I realized I'd put little to no attention into the overarching story. I mean, my friends have been kidnapped by some crazy drug lord, shouldn't I be like, doing something about that? Nah, not really. I was having too much fun charting my own path through the jungle, hunting boar, stealing cars, taking over outposts. Saving some yuppies was the least of my concerns. That could create a bit of a disconnect for some gamers who put a lot of stock in narrative. Should I consider it a failure from a storytelling perspective that I haven't felt like saving my friends yet? No, not really. I'm just glad I wasn't corralled into traveling down that road, and I appreciate the open-nature of this game so far. As long as I'm allowed to continue on my merry and destructive way through this island sandbox, I'll be a happy tourist when Far Cry 3 comes out this December.
That reminds me, I still haven't, technically speaking, finished the campaign of Skyrim. I've put about 200 hours into it, but roaming around doing my own thing was far more interesting than whatever it was I was supposed to be doing. What other great sandbox games have led you to ignore the plot and wander aimlessly?